Josh McDaniels time in Denver did not end the way it hoped he would. He was canned with three games left in only his second season with the team. That's not exactly a resume builder. Since then he has bounced from the Rams back the Patriots - right back to where he got his start in the NFL.
Broncos fans don't exactly look back on the McDaniels era with fondness. He will go down in Denver lore as perhaps the most reviled figure ever to wear orange and blue. There is one thing he deserves credit for, though. The guy had balls.
McDaniels cursed loudly on mic, started shit with linebackers and drafted Tim Tebow in the first-round when most teams gave him a fourth-round grade at best.
He pictured an offense that feature two quarterbacks, one a traditional pocket passer and another an unconventional "wild-cat" weapon who could threaten opponents with the run and surprise them with the pass. The "Tebow package" was to be the hallmark of McDaniels' unique offense that was meant to take the NFL by storm by keeping defenses on their toes.
Josh didn't have the track record as a coach to get away with it, though. Whether he lacked the confidence to install the Tebow offense or the Broncos held him back we will never know. What we do know is that, after he was fired, Tebow became the Broncos starter for the last three games rather than being used in any special packages.
Rex Ryan has the track record to do what McDaniels could not. In his three season with the Jets he has taken to the AFC Championship game twice and finished 8-8 once. He has the "hand" within that organization to put Tim Tebow's feet to work. And that is what he is going to do.
Ryan will force defenses to prepare for two quarterbacks in 2012. He will run with Josh McDaniels' original idea. It was never a bad one to begin with. The concept only needed someone with the balls to really try it. Nobody in the league has balls bigger than Rex Ryan's.
Tim Tebow will not be the Jets "backup" quarterback. He will be their "other" quarterback. They will utilize him the way he should be utilized - as a short yardage and goal-line hybrid type of guy who can trip up defenses. Rex Ryan has seen Tebow do it first hand. In one of the Broncos unlikely comeback wins in 2011 Tebow smoked Ryan's entire defense - lineman, corners, safeties - everybody - and ran 30 yard for a game-winning TD.
Some folks say that play was a fluke. Rex apparently didn't think it was. He wants Tim to do that for him - and he will give the kid plenty of opportunities to do so.
The Jets didn't bring Tim Tebow in to apply pressure to Mark Sanchez. They brought him in to create a new X-Factor in their offense, one the Broncos had planned on using once. Denver got cold feet. Rex won't. He has the balls for Tebow's feet.
